Pest Control
by ShadowLev
Summary: "We haven't failed this bad since we lost to Duluth East 8-1" "Yeah, that's the game Kendall and I got ejected from for unsportsmanlike mooning" Duluth East doesn't play by the rules, Carlos and Kendall sink to their level, and the team suffers.


So, I watched my Chicago Blackhawks playing against the number one seed, the Vancouver Canucks last night and WIN in overtime. Fuck. Yeah. Both teams played wonderfully and it was really awesome watching them. I love hockey, and hockey boys. I have one in my Bio 2 class who reminds me of Kendall. So I decided to take the prompt from Big Time Terror, where they talk about losing to Duluth East 8-1 because Carlos and Kendall got ejected from the game for unsportsmanlike mooning. This is a sports fic. You have been warned.

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><p>The situation was charged from the moment they stepped off the bus. Kendall led the team toward the locker room and hostility followed them thereafter. Behind him, Carlos, James, and Logan swarmed in an intimidating huddle. Chad and Dom followed close behind. Duluth East held no hospitality, only glares in their eyes, so the boys puffed out their chests until they reached the safety of the locker room.<p>

"They are going to kill us," Logan hissed jerkily, yanking up his hockey pants. Kendall smirked.

"We'll be fine, they don't have anything on us," Kendall said, trying and failing at being reassuring. He had only recently become team captain and had some speaking skills to develop. Meanwhile, James and Carlos were trying to pry Carlos' helmet from his shoulder pads. He had tried to put the pads on over the helmet again.

"Duluth East plays for blood, they managed to render two players unconscious this season," Logan hissed, pulling on his shoulder pads and beginning to knot up his skates. Kendall chuckled a little at his friends before reaching in to pull them apart. Eventually, Carlos was reassembled properly.

"Stop worrying, we'll beat them easy. No cheaters can beat us," Kendall scoffed.

Less than two minutes into the game, Kendall was beginning to turn red with anger. The linesmen and ref had been bribed. They had watched as the stick flew up and hooked him backwards away from the puck. Luckily Carlos swooped in and passed to Dom. The big defensemen swooped in and body checked Dom, stealing the puck. Dom, half the guys size and a damn good left wing, flew off his skates and landed hard.

Kendall growled and darted toward the puck. James passed it to him easily and he began to make his way to the other side. He passed to Carlos, who took it up for a shot on goal that bounced off. Kendall caught it midair, dropped it, then made another shot on goal. The puck bounced off again and the Duluth's centre got a hold of it and made a rush.

Logan checked him and passed to James, who took it around the goal and passed it off before the right winger slammed him into the boards, crushing him. The ref did nothing. Carlos took the pass and had started half-heartedly going back to goal, hoping that the ref would call penalty after seeing James wheeze for a few seconds. Kendall just got madder and raced towards the goal.

Carlos passed him the puck when he suddenly felt something large collide with him from behind. He flew forward as the puck skated under his feet and felt all the air leave him as he slid forward on the ice.

"Offsides," he heard the announcer call. Kendall leapt up and ran over to Carlos, who had the same look of devilishness on his face.

"I hate this stupid pest," Carlos growled. Kendall nodded and he and Carlos dropped sticks, gripped their shorts, and dropped trou towards the pest defensemen. Whistles blew.

"Penalty for unsportsmanlike mooning," The ref shouted, "You two are out for the game!"

Kendall felt his jaw go slack. Shit, he hadn't meant to get ejected, he'd figured a minor penalty. Suddenly, his stomach felt sick. Slowly, he and Carlos made their way off the ice. The garbage can stood on the side. Pulling out his mouthpiece, Kendall leaned over it and puked up his granola and Gatorade. He took his seat in the penalty box next to Carlos.

Dom was the only forward left, and they had Logan and James on defense with Chad as goalie. A 5-on-3 meant that they weren't going to leave this game with dignity. Kendall chewed his thumb, watching as the other team got a penalty. Chad deflected it easily. He sighed with relief.

That sigh turned to a growl as an elbow caught Logan in the side of the head and threw him sideways into the wall. In the next second, they scored. At least they got to add another player to help Dom out. Unfortunately, the two major point scorers were in the penalty box, so the coach threw in the biggest guy on the team, Noah, in hopes that he would withstand the abuse.

The period ended with everyone having been slammed into the boards at least twice, elbowed, spat on, slashed, and scored on 5 times. Kendall went to find them in the locker room. Logan nursed a bloody nose and Dom had a split lip. James leaned against the locker, eyes closed.

"I'm really sorry guys," Kendall tried to say, but James had already shoved passed him.

"Save it," James spat and headed out. Kendall frowned. That wasn't normally like him.

The next period started with a fight. James caught the pest with a look and a shout and threw down his gloves. The other guy followed suit and soon they were throwing punches at each other. James got the guy good under the chin and knocked him flat on his ass. The ref let it happen. The pest clambered back up and headed back to his end.

After the face-off gave them possession, Logan took the puck up to the goal and scored. However, he didn't get a chance to again. Kendall watched as exhaustion seeped into his team and sighed when the coach swapped in less experienced members, even if they let the puck in twice more during the period. The other team seemed to have learned a little from the fight.

"Dude, what's your problem?" Kendall asked. James threw his helmet across the room and rounded on him.

"Dude, you are my problem," James said, "You lecture about pests the entire practice, but once you confront them in a real game, you just play by their standards. Now we're losing." The brunette stormed off, grabbing up his helmet with his bruised knuckles.

The blonde banged his head into the wall for the next two minutes before going back to join Carlos, who was still hanging his head in shame.

After the team let in another goal halfway through the period, the coach put James, Logan, and Dom back into the game. Despite the fact that they were dog tired and hurting, they held off anymore goals and any further humiliation.

Kendall and Carlos followed the team into the showers in abject misery. The bruises littering Dom, Logan, James, and Noah plucked guilty chords in their stomach. They piled onto the bus, heading home. In the dark, Kendall sighed and stood up. It was his duty as captain.

"Hey guys listen up," Kendall yelled, trying to get their attention. People in the back talked angrily, defiantly. "Hey," James yelled, leaning up and looking back toward the sullen disobedient, "Captain says shut up, you shut up." Kendall nodded in his general direction, since the shadows of night cloaked the brunette's face.

"I wanted to say that I am sorry," Kendall said, "the way I acted today was way out of line. Instead of rising above their level, I sank down and brought you all with me. We could have beat them, cheating or not, but instead I and Carlos acted irresponsibly and got taken out. Watching you guys take a beating was the worst punishment imaginable, but I'll still be doing suicides next practice. I vow that that will never happen again."

The bus was deadly silent. Kendall felt his throat close anxiously. He looked down to find a seat and found the one next to James taken by his bag. The brunette moved the duffle so he could sit down. Tentatively, he reached over and gave the tired boy a back massage.

Two weeks later, they found themselves in the playoffs with real linesmen and a real ref playing against Duluth East. In a game of real talent, Duluth couldn't stand a chance. With Logan's agility, with James' bulk and finesse, with Carlos's raw fury, with Dom's keen skill, and with Kendall's planning, they brought Duluth to its knees.

That bus ride, Kendall found his speeches getting much better. The next game they played, they beat the number one seed in a double overtime game. The next game was the championship game. They charged around that ice with the cup in their arms that night.

The week after, four out of the six best hockey players in the state left to become a boy band.

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><p>Thank you for reading, GO BLACKHAWKS!<p> 


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